Brightshade's Secret
'NightClan' Leader : Rainstar - gray tom with yellow eyes Deputy : Fallenheart - white she-cat with pale gray stripes and ice blue eyes : (Apprentice, Jaguarpaw - scarred black tom with green eyes) Medicine Cat : Larkwhisker - pale golden tabby tom : (Apprentice, Pearlpaw - gray-blue she-cat with soft silver eyes) Senior Warriors : Blackember - black she-cat with bright amber eyes : Redstripe - deep red tabby tom : (Apprentice, Screepaw - gray tom with black flecks) : Kinkheart - brown tom with white patches and orange eyes Warriors : Icemoon - gray tabby she-cat with a white and underbelly : Rubyshine - pure white albino tom with red eyes : Tansypetal - pale red-brown she-cat with yellow eyes : Hazelfrost - brown tabby tom : Wildstorm - white tom with brown tabby patches and green eyes : Sandflash - pale sand-colored tom with amber eyes : Snakescar - thick-furred pale brown tom with a scar across his face and blue eyes : Lynxdapple - gray she-cat with darker gray dapples : Owlglance - small black-and-white patched she-cat : Lavenderheart - soft gray she-cat with pale violet-blue eyes : Tornclaw - burly dark gray tabby tom Queens : Angelfrost - beautiful white she-cat with black streaks on her face and legs, mother of Brightkit (black she-cat with white and gold patches, bright amber eyes) : Scarletflower - ginger tabby she-cat with yellow eyes, expecting Wildstorm's kits Elders : Elmheart - small mottled brown she-cat with green eyes 'OakClan' Leader : Dapplestar - dusky brown tom with darker brown spots Deputy : Frozenstorm - broad-shouldered pale gray tom with amber eyes Medicine Cat : Hornetfang - bright gold tabby she-cat : (Apprentice, Viperpaw - dark brown tabby she-cat) Warriors : Shalefall - steely gray tom : Cardinalsong - ginger tabby she-cat with blue eyes : Daffodilbreeze - very pale golden she-cat : (Apprentice, Harepaw - pale brown tom with ice blue eyes) 'EmberClan' Leader : Falconstar - dark brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes Deputy : Deerleap - small gray-brown tabby tom Medicine Cat Warriors : Oakdapple - ginger tabby she-cat with white patches : Flurrywing - dark gray tom with blue eyes : Cloudheart - long-legged white tom with silver patches : (Apprentice, Longpaw - pale ginger tom with amber eyes) : Hollowoak - thick-furred dark brown tom : Wrenheart - golden tabby she-cat with blue eyes : Minktail - tortoiseshell-and-white tom with yellow eyes : : 'Chapter One' Brightkit was too excited to sit still. Her mother, Angelfrost, was taking forever to finish grooming her. "Mama, I'm done already!" she pulled away and moved to the nursery entrance, ignoring her mother's disapproving glance at her still-messy fur. "When is Rainstar gonna call the Clan meeting?" Angelfrost smiled. "It is customary to perform any ceremonies at sunhigh, Brightkit. Sunhigh isn't for a while now. But while we're waiting, we can practice a few things. You'll want to impress your new mentor, right?" Brightkit sighed with resignation and sat down. "Let me guess - the Warrior Code again?" Angelfrost nodded. "What does the Code say about battles?" The small black kit stared up at the stone roof of the den, trying to think. "It says . . . Oh! It says, 'An honorable warrior does not have kill his opponents in order to win the battle.' Right?" The white nursery queen nodded warmly. "Yes, exactly. Very good, Brightkit. Now, what does the Code say about friendships outside the Clan?" After another moment of thought, Brightkit replied, "It says that 'You may have friends outside your own Clan, but your loylalty must lie fully with your Clan - you may have to meet that friend in battle one day.' " Before Angelfrost could reply, Rainstar's yowl came from the Stoneledge. Brightkit gasped. "It's time! Mama, come on!" She scambled to her paws and raced out into the NightClan camp, Angelfrost right behind her. Brightkit glanced around at the familiar surroundings of the NightClan camp. Cliffs about six cats high surrounded the camp on all sides, and all around the rims was a thick bramble wall - overall, NightClan was very well defended. Rainstar's blue eyes sparkled with amusement as the kit skidded to a stop and sat down right in the middle of the camp, her bright amber eyes wide and expectant. The rest of the Clan were soon gathered below. Out of the corner of her eye, Brightkit noticed Snakescar, a warrior with an ugly scar across his broad face. "Brightkit, step forward please," Rainstar instructed from his place atop the Stoneledge. Brightkit obeyed, excitement making it hard to keep still. "Brightkit, you have reached the age of six moons thus are ready to be apprenticed. From this day forth until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Brightpaw. Your mentor will be . . ." This was it. Who was going to mentor her - Lynxdapple? Wildstorm? Maybe even the deputy, Fallenheart? No, she had an apprentice. Or Rainstar himself! Brightpaw held her breath excitedly. ". . . your mentor will be Snakescar." Brightpaw's face fell. She couldn't believe it. From how Snakescar's last apprentice, Tornclaw had tuned out - fierce and intimidating - she could only imagine the grueling training Snakescar must have put him through. Tornclaw was the most quick to unsheathe his claws in the whole clan - besides Snakescar himself, of course. Snakescar, his head held high with pride, trotted over to his reluctant new apprentice and touched noses with her. This is going to be fun, Brightpaw thought to herself. I've got the worst mentor in the Clan. Great pick, Rainstar. 'Chapter Two' "Hurry up, Brightpaw." Snakescar's pale brown tail thumped impatiently against the ground as he waited for his apprentice to catch up. Brightpaw's head poked above the rim of the camp and her claws grappled at the grass. The entrance to the camp was the least slanted part of the cliffs surrounding it, but she was having a hard time getting out, small as she was. "I'm . . . trying . . ." she gasped. "How do you warriors . . . get out of camp so . . . easily?" Snakescar sighed and rolled his eyes. "We're not pathetic runts, that's how." He picked up Brightpaw by the scruff and dropped her unceremoniously on the grass. An indignant Brightpaw scrambled to her paws and hurried after her mentor as he started off across the wide-open territory. There were trees here and there plus a few that grew together in mini-forests, but overall NightClan's territory was hilly, grassy, empty land. Brightpaw followed after her mentor as fast as she could go, but Snakescar took warrior-size steps, and she only took kit-sized ones. "Can you slow down a bit?" she asked, still a little breathleass from her undignified climb out of the camp. "Can you speed up a bit?" Snakescar retorted drily, not slowing down or looking back at her. Brightpaw sighed and tried to move faster. Soon they reached a dip in the territory with sand at the bottom. "This is where we start our training. Or, rather, your training." Snakescar started picking his way down the slightly steep path into the training hollow. From what I've heard from the apprentices, usually training starts out with a tour of the territory, Brightpaw thought, confused. "Snakescar? Aren't we just supposed to be showing me the territory today?" she asked her mentor. Snakescar stopped and turned around, giving Brightpaw a icy-blue glare. "That may be how the other warriors start their apprentices off, but not me. I believe in just jumping straight to what's important. You'll have time to explore later, when you're on hunting and border patrols." Brightpaw knew it was useless trying to argue with Snakscar, so she just nodded. "You're kidding, right?'' This'' is who I have to practice with? NightClan didn't train kits the last time I checked." Brightpaw recognized Jaguarpaw's voice just before she saw him at the rim of the hollow, picking his way down. He gave Brightpaw a contemptuous glance. His mentor, Fallenheart, was right behind him. Fallenheart fluffed up her pale gray fur against the brisk late leaf-bare wind. "Great StarForest, am I glad new-leaf is coming soon!" she exclaimed. "Let's just get started, then," Snakescar said briskly. Fallenheart noticed Brightpaw. "Are you sure we should have Brightpaw practice with Jaguarpaw? She's just been apprenticed today, and Jaguarpaw has had almost four moons of training." "Which is why this is the fastest way," Snakescar replied. "Brightpaw may have to face an older, more experienced opponent in battle in the near future, so training for that is important." Brightpaw was confused. What did Snakescar mean by "in the near future"? Was there tension between their Clan and the others currently? She'd have to ask him later. Snakescar turned to his apprentice. "Brightpaw, how about you try attacking Jaguarpaw?" Brightpaw nodded, turning her concentration to the black tom. A fox had attacked a moon ago and been driven off, but Jaguarpaw had earned quite a few intimidating scars in the process. He looked like a seasoned warrior to a newly-made apprentice like Brightpaw. Her deep amber eyes narrowing to slits in concentration, Brightpaw leaped at the bigger tom, making sure her claws were sheathed. His bright green eyes sparkling with amusement, Jaguarpaw easily moved out of the way, bringing one of his massive paws down on top of her head. Brightpaw crashed to the sandy ground, landing on her side. She staggered to her paws, her vision blurred for a moment from the hard blow she'd taken. Fallenheart took a step forward, a worried look on her face. "He could have hurt her with such a hard blow as that! Jaguarpaw, be more careful!" Snakescar stepped in front of an incredulous Fallenheart and nodded approvingly to Jaguarpaw. "You may be the deputy, but she's my apprentice. I'll train her in any way I like. And he's my son, so I really have more authority over him than you do. Jaguarpaw, continue." Jaguarpaw looked back and forth from his father to his mentor, obviously indecisive about who he should obey. After a moment, he turned and leaped at Brightpaw again, bowling her over. "Get up!" Snakescar spat at her. "Remember that you're not some helpless kit - you're an apprentice now!" Chapter Three Brightpaw jumped back down into the camp, exhausted and furious. The sun was low in the sky, and would be setting soon. She watched Snakescar and Fallenheart disappear into the warriors' den - she probably wanted to chew him out about talking back to her during the training session. She had been expecting her first day to be way better than it had been. Suddenly she wished she was a kit again, safe and warm in the nursery. Brightpaw heard pawsteps behind her as she stalked towards the apprentices' den, but she didn't stop or look behind her. "Look, Brightpaw, I'm sorry about training today," Jaguarpaw said, coming up to her side. The look on his face told her he was genuinely sorry. "My father can be a little . . . tough on his apprentices." "Tough? Tough?!?" ''Brightpaw stopped abruptly and whirled around to face the older apprentice. "That was by far the worst day of my entire life! I thought you'd have the decency to obey your mentor - the ''deputy of the Clan, need I mention - and not attack brand-new apprentices! I've had absolutely no training, remember?" Jaguarpaw took a few steps back in surprise. "Hey! Let's remember that Snakescar - my father - told me to keep on! I've learned from experience that it's best to not anger or interfere with Snakescar." He twitched his left ear absentmindedly. Brightpaw noticed the ugly, jagged scars through that ear and on his pelt. Brightpaw's eyes narrowed as she glared at Jaguarpaw. She saw fear cross his face. "Brightpaw . . . your eyes." "And what about them?" Brightpaw spat, her fur bristling. It was all she could do to not swipe her claws across his face. "Look," Jaguarpaw said shakily, still apparently shocked by whatever it was that was going on with her eyes. He gestured with a paw to a puddle on the ground just outside the apprentices' den. Brightpaw took one glance down at her reflection and gasped. In the half-light, she could see her deep amber eyes shining unnaturally bright. Cats' eyes do shine in the dark, but not that bright! ''She thought. A heartbeat after she looked into the puddle, her eyes stopped glowing and went back to normal. "That was just . . . scary," Jaguarpaw breathed. "Why did they-" "Do I look like I have a clue?" Brightpaw inturrupted sardonically. For the moment, she forgot she was supposed to be furious at Jaguarpaw. She was too curious about her eyes to remember. "Maybe it's some weird thing that only happens to she-cats," Jaguarpaw suggested. Before Brightpaw could snap at his that she-cats were not weird, Rainstar's yowl came from up on the Stoneledge. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Stoneledge for a Clan meeting!" ''This must be important if Rainstar isn't waiting till sunhigh to announce this, Brightpaw thought. She and Jaguarpaw moved closer to the Stoneledge and sat down. Brightpaw remembered just in time that she was furious at Jaguarpaw, and sat a few tail-lengths away.